Vikram Sarabhai was one of India's greatest scientists, known as the "Father of the Indian Space Program." He was born in 1919 in Ahmedabad to a wealthy family and received his early education in India and later studied at Cambridge. After returning to India, he helped establish the Indian space program and research centers, launching the first rocket and satellite. Sarabhai had a vision of using space technology to benefit India and worked to develop indigenous satellite and launch capabilities. He passed away in 1971 but left a lasting legacy as the pioneer of India's space program.

1. VIKRAM SARABHAI
Born: August 12, 1919
Died: December 31,1971
By
Trinadh Bandaru 1

2. ABOUT VIKRAM SARABHAI
Vikram Sarabhai was one of the greatest scientists of India. He is considered
as “The Father Of The Indian Space Program.”
Apart from being a scientist, he was a rare combination of an
innovator, industrialist and visionary.
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919 at Ahmadabad in an
affluent family of progressive industrialists. He was one of eight children of
Ambalal and Sarla Devi.
 He had his early education in a private school, “Retreat” run by his parents on
Montessori lines.
Some of the great men of India such as Gurudev Rabindranath, J. Krishna
Murthi, Motilal Nehru, V. S. Shrinivasa Shastri, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini
Naidu, Maulana Azad, C. F. Andrews, C. V. Raman et al. used to stay with the
Sarabhai family when they visited Ahmedabad. Mahatma Gandhi also once
stayed at their house while recovering from an illness. Visits by such great men
greatly influenced Vikram Sarabhai.

3. ABOUT VIKRAM SARABHAI
When World War II began, he returned home and joined as a research scholar
under Sir C. V. Raman at The Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalore.
After his matriculation, Vikram Sarabhai proceeded to Cambridge for his college
education and took the “Tripods Degree” from St. John's College in 1940.
 His interest in solar physics and cosmic ray led him to set up many observation
stations around the country. He built the necessary equipment with which he took
measurements at Bangalore, Poona and the Himalayas. He returned to
Cambridge in 1945 and completed his Ph.D in 1947.
The year 1957-1958 was designated as International Geo-physical year (IGY).
The Indian program for the IGY had been one of the most significant ventures of
Sarabhai. It exposed him to the new vistas of space science with the launching in
1957 of Sputnik-I. Subsequently, the Indian National Committee For Space
Research was created, of which Vikram Sarabhai became Chairman.
With active support from Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, set up the first
Rocket Launching

4. ABOUT VIKRAM SARABHAI
Station (TERLS) in the country at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the
Arabian Coast, as Thumba is very close to the Equator.
The first rocket with sodium vapour payload was launched on November 21,
1963. In 1965, the UN General Assembly gave recognition to TERLS as an
international facility.
After the sudden death of Homi Bhabha in an air crash, Vikram Sarabhai was
appointed Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission in May 1966.
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was awarded with Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Medal in 1962
and Padma Bhushan in 1966. Vikram Sarabhai passed away in his sleep on
December 31,1971

5. ABOUT ARYABHATA SATILITE
Launch Date : April 19, 1975
Weight : 360 kg
Orbit : 619 x 562 km inclined at 50.7 deg
Lauched by : Soviet Intercosmos rocket.
Objectives : The objectives of this project were to indigenously design and
fabricate a space-worthy satellite system and evaluate its perfromance in orbitr.
 To evolve the methodology of conducting a series of complex operations on the
satellite in its orbital phasei.To set up ground-based receiving, transmitting and
tracking systems and to establish infrastructure for the fabrication of spacecraft
systems.
The exercise also provided an opportunity to conduct investigations in the area of
spcae sciences. The satellite carried three experiments, one each in X-Ray
Astronomy, Solar Physics and Aeronomy.

6. THE PHOTOS OF ARYABHATA SATILILTE
Aryabhata
Satililte
The telecommunication
antenna at SHAR centre to
send commands to Aryabhata
(1975-76)